By Sally Harrison

“The depth of this offering is incredible,” said Western Bloodstock Ltd. owner Jeremy Barwick. “These horses represent five generations of selective breeding at its finest.”

“It’s called realigning my priorities,” said Alice Walton, 65, who Time magazine recognized as one of the world’s most influential people in 2012. “I have loved this business and this way of life. And let me say, first and foremost, no matter who owns the horses, I will always be rooting for them, because I will always consider them ‘my’ horses.

“But it is time for me to pull back and focus on other things that really matter to me. I opened Crystal Bridges (Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark.) in 2011, and that takes a lot of my time. I also have other philanthropic interests that I want to focus on.” Walton is CEO of the Walton Family Foundation’s Crystal Bridges Museum; her father is the late Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart.

In addition to champion show horses; 3-year-olds trained by Jesse Lennox; 2-year-olds; yearlings; and weanlings, the sale features Walton-bred stallions Boon San and The Boon. Boon San, with average offspring earnings of $21,649, is a full brother to Boon San Kitty LTE $565,504. Both Boon San and Boon San Kitty are out of Walton Ranch’s matriarch, Boon San Sally. The Boon, by Peptoboonsmal and out of Boon San Kitty, is a 7-year-old and his first foals are now yearlings.

“Raising the babies and working on the genetics has always been my true love,” said Walton, who acquired her first cutting horse when she was 14 years old and has been showing and breeding cutting horses for fifty years.

“What I’m most excited about is that our best ones today are double-bred. You don’t want to double up too closely, but when you have that kind of genetic power and can double up on it without faults, then it really hones in on the qualities that Boon San Sally had – monster speed, brains, and cow sense.”

Show horses included in the sale are 5-year-old Boon San Baby LTE $188,956, by Boon San, and 6-year-old Boon San Spoon LTE $138,306, out of Boon San Kitty and by Hes A Peptospoonful. Both horses are currently qualified for the 2015 NCHA Classic Challenge under Walton Ranch trainer Jesse Lennox.

“The unique things I have noticed riding the babies of Boon San, The Boon, and Rockin W, which all go back to the Boon San Sally genetics, include their intensity and intelligence,” noted Lennox. “They are very intense and expressive when they are working a cow and yet they remain calm. Then there is their incredible foot speed. There are other fast horses out there, but not a lot that can combine an analytical frame of mind and make a good decision, as they move that quickly.

“Another trait, and possibly the strongest, is the reach and front extension as they’re crossing a pen, Lennox added. “ It’s like when a swimmer puts their head down and does an over stroke. These horses kind of do that through the sand with their shoulders and it puts you at a real advantage to stop. And the horse that’s quickest across the cow and the quickest to stop is the one that usually gets the biggest check.”

Three daughters of Boon San Kitty, and two daughters of RW Sallycat, full sister to Boon San Kitty, are among the sale horses, as well as Boon San Baby LTE $188, 956 and four of her foals; as well as Stylish Baby Doll LTE $201,425, by SR Instant Choice, and with produce earnings of $349,527.

“Boon San Sally was my God-send,” said Walton. “Then the great Stylish Oak Susie, and Rose Chex, the dam of Stylish Rosie. Those are the three stalwarts of my broodmare band. And, of course, Sally’s line has managed to produce the three great studs.

“This (move) has been some time in coming really,” Walton added. “I’ve been stretched in too many directions and I want to get focused. I’ve got a house in Fort Worth, so I’m going to move to town.

“Tell everybody they’re not rid of me. I’m keeping my box (in Will Rogers Coliseum) and I’ll be there with bells on.”

For more information and a complete list of Walton’s Rocking W Ranch Absolute Dispersal Sale catalog, go to www. westernbloodstock.com.